Congressman Steve King - Representing the 4th District of Iowahttp://steveking.house.gov/rss.xml
enKing Introduces Resolution to Block Amnesty Trap for House Republicanshttp://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-introduces-resolution-to-block-amnesty-trap-for-house-republicans
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after introducing his resolution to the appropriations bill funding the Department of Homeland Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015.
“House Democrats voted last week for the one-week DHS funding bill because they knew they would have the power to call up the DHS amnesty funding bill for a vote this week,” said King. “They are poised to take control of the floor and fund executive amnesty. A House Resolution can stop it, if we amend Rule XXII.
Clause 4 of Rule XXII of the House Rules provides privilege to a motion to dispose of any amendments ‘when the stage of disagreement has been reached on a bill or resolution’ as soon as the Senate formally disagrees. The DHS appropriations bill reached the stage of disagreement in the House last Friday. The Senate is poised to act tonight. From that moment, Nancy Pelosi or any Member of the majority or the minority can make a privileged motion to fund executive amnesty through September 2015.&nbsp;Under the Constitution, both chambers of Congress make their own rules. The House can change its rules by simple majority and has a duty to do so to protect the Constitution. It is our urgent obligation to immediately amend or suspend Clause 4 of Rule XXII.
The precedent for this is still fresh. Rules preemption was exactly the tactic used by our Leadership to prevent a similar privileged motion on the first day, in the first hour (1:00am) of the shutdown, Oct 1, 2013. If Republicans are serious about defending the Constitution and defunding the President’s amnesty, a similar resolution must be passed this week before Democrats can act. Republicans were elected on a promise to stop Obama's unconstitutional amnesty. A single clause in a rule we have the power to change is not an excuse to fund lawlessness. This is only a trap if we fail to act. Leadership’s back is not against the wall unless they choose it to be.
This is why I have drafted a resolution that will amend the Rule so that only the Majority Leader or his designee can offer the privileged resolution on the DHS bill. I urge my colleagues to join me in this fight for upholding and restoring the Constitution. The time to fight is now.”
To view the full text of the resolution, click here.
Mon, 02 Mar 2015 15:11:15 -0500110http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-introduces-resolution-to-block-amnesty-trap-for-house-republicansKing Reaction to Federal Judge&#039;s Order Halting Obama&#039;s Unconstitutional, Executive Amnesty Ordershttp://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-reaction-to-federal-judges-order-halting-obamas-unconstitutional
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Steve King released the following statement in reaction to Texas Federal Judge Andrew Hanen’s order granting a temporary injunction halting President Obama’s illegal and unconstitutional, executive actions on amnesty.&nbsp;
“Judge Hanen’s order, that came down yesterday, essentially says that President Obama is operating lawlessly in regards to his executive amnesty actions,”&nbsp;said King.“Further, the President doesn’t have the legal authority to waive the law or the legal authority to grant work permits to people he decided to waive the law for illegal aliens.
This is definitely a victory that changes the dynamics of the debate in the United States Senate today, and its also one that starts us down the path where we could eventually shut off all the President’s lawlessness.&nbsp;
I was the first advocate for defunding and blocking the President’s amnesty since 2011 with the Morten Memos. This order from yesterday is a judicial vindication of the positions I have long held on the President’s actions on immigration.&nbsp;
This is a significant step forward, but only a temporary halt against the President’s actions. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to do their constitutional duty and vote to cut off all funds for Obama’s illegal and unconstitutional, executive amnesty actions.”
Tue, 17 Feb 2015 16:04:05 -0500110http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-reaction-to-federal-judges-order-halting-obamas-unconstitutionalKing Introduces Davis-Bacon Repeal Acthttp://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-introduces-davis-bacon-repeal-act
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after re-introducing the Davis-Bacon Repeal Act:
“As a small business owner for 28 years, I saw firsthand the damaging effects Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates have on federal public works projects,” said King. “Throughout my years in the construction industry I have paid Davis-Bacon wages, and I have been paid Davis-Bacon wages. The Davis-Bacon Act is a Depression-era wage law. It requires that each federal, public works contract, $2,000 and above, contains a clause setting the minimum wages to be paid to the workers employed to complete the project. Any contractors or subcontractors who participate in the project must pay their workers this ‘prevailing wage.’ In most cases, Davis-Bacon wages are federal government mandated union scale wages, not a true ‘prevailing wage.’ Davis-Bacon artificially inflates the cost of federal contracts and restricts the ability of small businesses to compete for these contracts.
My Davis-Bacon Repeal Act eliminates the federally mandated union pay scale under federal, public works contracts. Every dollar that American taxpayers send to Washington must be used as efficiently as possible, and every business – small or large, union or non-union – should have the ability to compete freely for federal construction projects.
Davis-Bacon is bad for taxpayers and it is bad for small businesses and bad for workers needing a job. Repealing this outdated law would be a big step towards ensuring taxpayer dollars are being used wisely and efficiently.”
Fri, 13 Feb 2015 16:08:48 -0500110http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-introduces-davis-bacon-repeal-actKing Introduces The English Language Unity Acthttp://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-introduces-the-english-language-unity-act
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after re-introducing H.R. 997, the English Language Unity Act:
"There is no more unifying force in the world than a common form of communications currency," said King. "Every sovereign nation sate, including the Vatican, has at a minimum, an official language. It is essential that we make assimilation of our legal immigrants a top priority and learning English is an important first step in that process. My English Language Unity Act provides consistency among Americans by requiring all official functions of the United States to be conducted in English, establishes a uniform language requirement for naturalization and places an obligation on representatives of the federal government to encourage individuals to learn English.
We are a nation strengthened by assimilation, and it is important we share one vision and one official language. English as the official language of our nation ensures as a Nation we are bound together and all have the ability to achieve the American dream."
Fri, 13 Feb 2015 13:54:36 -0500110http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-introduces-the-english-language-unity-actKing op-ed: Abolish the IRS, Enact the FairTaxhttp://steveking.house.gov//media-center/columns/king-op-ed-abolish-the-irs-enact-the-fairtax
In recent years, Americans have watched as banks collapsed, small businesses failed, homes were foreclosed upon, and friends and family lost their jobs. As we continue to move toward recovery, we must ensure that we take to heart an important lesson from this crisis: big government is not the answer.
Each year, American taxpayers spend 6.1 billion hours and $163 billion preparing their taxes. Small businesses spend 1.9 billion hours and $19 billion complying with our income tax code every year. The IRS itself costs nearly $12 billion dollars to operate for a single year. Our corporate taxes are the highest in the industrialized world. Our tax rates and system hobbles American business and diminishes our competitive edge. What's worse, our current tax system perversely taxes(read that punishes) all productivity; all earnings, savings and investment of Americans. We have a tax code that is counterproductive, complex and chaotic and the U.S. taxpayers are paying the price. There is a far better solution.
The solution is H.R. 25, the FairTax, a national consumption tax placed on all new goods and services sold for personal use. The Fair Tax would completely replace the current patchwork of federal income, excise, and payroll taxes currently used to collect revenue for the federal treasury. The FairTax would drive economic growth, quash tax-evasion, empower taxpayers to determine how much they will pay in taxes each year, foster saving and investment, and enable American companies to compete fiercely in the global marketplace.
Our federal tax system is morphed beyond recognition or repair. Productive Americans are hit too hard by taxes. The current economic malaise cannot and will not be solved with tax increases and more government spending.
Years ago, I founded King Construction and spent 28 years operating my business. My experience with the IRS helped bring me to a conclusion to work to abolish them. Other than the Fair Tax, there is no tax plan that completely eliminates the IRS. What's more important, much more important, is that the Fair Tax does everything good that any tax policy does that is good. It does them all, and it does them all better.
The FairTax eliminates the IRS - and every other current form of taxation as well.&nbsp; It replaces the entire revenue stream with a consumption tax, which would lift the burden of taxation off American productivity and place the power to control how much Americans are taxed in our own hands. Because it empowers citizens instead of government, it is the most effective way to encourage positive, long-term economic performance which will create millions of jobs across the country.
Replacing the current income tax with a consumption tax, the Fairtax, will ensure that productivity is not punished in our country, but rewarded.
The FairTax will free the economy from the self-imposed chains of the current tax code and unleash growth. It is the way to help unemployed Americans find new jobs and families pay their bills. Now is the time to position the FairTax in the center of the ongoing economic debate in Congress, the presidential races and throughout America as the most effective way to empower the Americans and foster the robust economy we need to remain the shining city on a hill.
Fri, 13 Feb 2015 09:36:00 -0500110http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/columns/king-op-ed-abolish-the-irs-enact-the-fairtaxKing Introduces Sunshine in the Courtroom Act http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-introduces-sunshine-in-the-courtroom-act
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after introducing H.R. 917, the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act. The legislation allows judges at all federal court levels to open their courtrooms to television cameras and radio broadcasts. &nbsp;
“From the founding of our nation we have opened up the machinery of government to the public,” said King. “The people pay for the operations of government and their lives are directly affected by the decisions made by their leaders. That is why I have re-introduced the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act which allows for the much needed transparency of the decisions made in the federal judiciary every day that affect all of our lives. My bill also allows for a stellar education process for students studying law and for the general American people.
My bill would allow presiding judges in appellate courts, including the Supreme Court, to permit electronic recording and broadcasting to the public of any court proceeding over which the judge presides. However, if the judge finds that the recording would constitute a violation of the due process rights of a party it would not be allowed.
Cameras make for a more open and transparent government along with a more educated public.&nbsp; I look forward to working with my colleagues to make this a reality for the American people.”
Fri, 13 Feb 2015 09:21:45 -0500110http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-introduces-sunshine-in-the-courtroom-actKing Introduces the Religious Worker Visa Reciprocity Act http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-introduces-the-religious-worker-visa-reciprocity-act
Washington, D.C. - Congressman Steve King released the following statement after introducing H.R. 899, the Religious Worker Visa Reciprocity Act:
“In 1990 Congress created the R-1 nonimmigrant visa for religious workers,” said King. “This was created to help religious workers like priests, ministers, monks, nuns and other religious workers to come to the U.S. for up to three years to work for religious organizations. What started at a moderate growth rate for admissions has now skyrocketed. The most infamous of these acceptances was Sheik Omar Abdul-Rahman, the mastermind of the first World Trade Center bombing.
The United States has the most generous immigration policy in the world. However, the generosity is being repaid with fraud and abuse. This is a sensible opportunity to narrow the R-1 visa and make a stand for religious freedom. All U.S. religious workers should have the same access to a foreign country as that country’s religious workers have to the U.S. This is a sensible solution that both limits waste, fraud and abuse by lowering the number of considered petitions and promoting religious freedom.”
Thu, 12 Feb 2015 09:12:02 -0500110http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-introduces-the-religious-worker-visa-reciprocity-actKing Introduces New IDEA: The Illegal Deduction Elimination Act http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-introduces-new-idea-the-illegal-deduction-elimination-act
Washington, D.C. - Congressman Steve King released the following statement after introducing his New IDEA Act, the Illegal Deduction Elimination Act:
“I believe we must shut off the job magnets that encourage illegal immigrants to come to the United States,” said King. “I have authored New IDEA, the Illegal Deduction Elimination Act, which would protect American jobs for American workers. New IDEA would make wages and benefits paid to illegal workers nondeductible for federal tax purposes. For example, a $10-per-hour wage for an illegal employee would cost the employer $16-per-hour without deductions plus penalty and interest. This would dramatically reduce the cheap labor incentive of hiring illegal workers. New IDEA would also make E-Verify permanent and provide ‘safe harbor’ for employers who use this employment eligibility system.
My legislation would also create an information-sharing system between the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. By using an automated system to verify employment authorization, and by sharing this information amongst three federal agencies, false identification documents and illegal workers will be identified more easily and the agencies of government would be required to coordinate and cooperate with each other.”
Tue, 10 Feb 2015 17:02:46 -0500110http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/king-introduces-new-idea-the-illegal-deduction-elimination-actKing oped in U.S. News &amp; World Report: Do Democrats Support Amnesty or Security?http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/columns/king-oped-in-us-world-news-do-democrats-support-amnesty-or-security
Given the president’s intransigence, Congress can either choose to violate its oath and become accomplices to President Barack Obama’s shredding of Article I, or members can use every tool provided by the Founding Fathers to protect the Constitution.
It is clear to me that members of Congress have no choice, but to defend their own prerogative and honor their oath. Once the duty is clear, the only real question is the tactic. The Constitution’s most targeted and least invasive remedy is the power of the purse. Congress can simply target the unconstitutional actions of a president and strip all funds and fees from being used to carry out those actions. This is uncontroversial and has been done many times. In fact, if you scan appropriations bills, you will find funding limitations for certain actions scattered throughout.
The trap door for using the power of the purse is that the president must sign the bill that strips him of funds to continue his unconstitutional actions. If the president was really concerned with working within the constraints of the Constitution, then there would be no crisis to confront. Therefore, we can assume a stand-alone bill that strips funds and fees for the president’s illegal and unconstitutional acts would be vetoed. Given the abdication of Congressional prerogative we have seen from Democrats (after the election was safely over), it is also safe to assume there is no way to override that veto.
So we know a stand-alone bill is dead and any presentation of one is a show vote as doomed as the Charge of the Light Brigade. Serious strategies will include finding bills that the president cannot veto and including in them language stripping funding for executive amnesty. The Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill is one such piece of must-pass legislation.
We all know DHS has many important components to keep us safe in a dangerous world that seems more perilous by the minute. Republicans have responded by funding those components. All that is included in that important legislation is the removal of use of funds and fees to carry out the president’s illegal and unconstitutional executive amnesty. The choice, then, is with the president and Democrats about whether they would rather defend unconstitutional amnesty or fund homeland security.
This is a good strategy which can prove instructive for the American people. After Democrats railed against the president acting alone on amnesty when they had to face the voters, they have closed ranks around amnesty now. So the question is: Do Democrats support amnesty or security? Would the president place his amnesty over doing his job to protect the United States?
In closing, Congress is bound by oath to defend the Constitution. As a part of that duty, we must make a good faith effort to stop the president’s illegal and unconstitutional acts. Neither show votes nor lawsuits demonstrate fulfillment of our duty to defend the Constitution with everything in our power. Congress can demonstrate it is interested in both funding DHS and defending the Constitution. It is up to the president to decide whether he is more interested in violating the Constitution than he is in defending the homeland.
To view the original article source, click here.
Fri, 06 Feb 2015 10:01:00 -0500110http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/columns/king-oped-in-us-world-news-do-democrats-support-amnesty-or-securityKings ObamaCare Repeal Language Passes the Househttp://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/kings-obamacare-repeal-language-passes-the-house
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Steve King released the following statement after voting in favor of his full, 100% repeal ObamaCare language within, H.R. 596:
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To view Congressman King’s full remarks, click here.
Tue, 03 Feb 2015 17:37:31 -0500110http://steveking.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/kings-obamacare-repeal-language-passes-the-house